EditorialTwo great VillagersLast week, the Village lost two individuals who made invaluable contributions to this community, serving it selflessly for decades  Dr. Charles Vialotti and Rosemary McGrath.$2 tolls are a startDrivers free ride into Downtown and Midtown Manhattan moved closer to ending last week with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silvers compromise plan to charge drivers one subway fare to cross the East and Harlem river bridges.

Letters to the EditorTalking PointA patriot for you and for me: Obamas brave battleBy Jerry Tallmer
I am a Gettysburg freak, though I have only been there, physically, twice in my life  once as an impressionable kid of 12 or 13 and once as an adult in the traumatic year of 1968 when this nation and much of the rest of the world were in the throes of near-revolutionary nervous breakdown.

Dr. Charles Vialotti, 99; Worked until 3 years agoBy Albert Amateau
Dr. Charles P. Vialotti, a beloved Village physician who retired three years ago after 70 years devoted to his neighborhood practice, died last week in a Saddle River, N.J., hospice after a brief illness at the age of 99.

Serving West and East Village, Chelsea, SoHo, NoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown and the Lower East Side

Villager photo by J.B. Nicholas

Tis the season for snow seasoningOn Tuesday morning, Christopher Wood orchestrated Ovastrophe, a season-specific participatory artwork in Tompkins Square Park. One hundred twenty-four eggshells were filled with mixes of spices and seeds  heavy on the paprika, cinnamon, hibiscus and turmeric  the colors evoking the spirit of the Hindu festival Holi. The eggshells were then smashed and the contents scattered on the snow. Anyone could join in, as did the woman above.

Soho church lacks an angel, but they have faith in lawsuitBy Lincoln Anderson
When St. Brigids Church in the East Village was saved from the wrecking ball last year, it was a ray of hope to congregants from another Downtown Catholic church, Our Lady of Vilna on Sohos western edge, praying for a miracle of their own.

French food, historic mood at McNallys new MinettaBy Patrick Hedlund
The Villages historic Minetta Tavern will reopen Tues., March 10, following a renovation by renowned restaurateur Keith McNally, who bought the space last year to inject new life into the 72-year-old haunt.

Shows over for precinct cabaret unitBy Albert Amateau and Lincoln Anderson
The Ninth Precinct, which covers the bar-saturated East Village between 14th and Houston Sts., this week lost its cabaret enforcement unit, which has been folded into the regular patrol strength after the precinct received an additional sergeant and 14 additional officers.

News

Local shops are trying to get people to think smallBy Heather Murray
In the wake of one of the dreariest Christmas shopping seasons in recent memory, three Thompson St. shop owners have launched a campaign to bring greater awareness  and foot traffic  to local small stores.

Arrests at porn-video shops are obscene, gays sayBy Duncan Osborne
With speakers recalling the 1969 Stonewall riots that launched the modern gay rights movement, roughly 150 people recently gathered at the site of those riots to protest the prostitution arrests of gay and bisexual men in Manhattan porn shops.

Villager Arts & LifestylesThe newly stolen soulBy David Todd
The fiction of Mary Gaitskillcurrently on sublime display in her third collection of short stories, Dont Cryis not safe for dysmorphics or Iraq war veterans or any other potentially vulnerable types, by which I mean everyone.

Louder than bombsBy Aileen Torres
Handsome Furs may sound like a gimmicky name, but this band does have some meaningful messages to impart.
The Montreal-based husband-and-wife duo Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry are coming out with their second release, Face Control, on Sub Pop Records Mar. 10.

A too-brief look at mismatched loveBy Adrienne Urbanski
Given that her most well-known literary contributions depict the hardships of pioneer life, Willa Cather is not a name commonly associated with musicals.

Finding herselfBy Jerry Tallmer
On a fine sunny Friday in her 35th year as one of Americas most admired and busiest actresses Off-Broadway, on Broadway, on television, in films, or anywhere, Tovah Feldshuh rounded out her afternoon with 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, to work up a sweat; lifted 10-pound weights for half an hour then swam 40 laps before show time.

Koch on FilmBy Ed KochDonkey Punch (+) This film caught my attention after reading Stephen Holdens review in The New York Times. He wrote that it offers a juicy, titillating portrait of bored vacationing Britons at play in Mallorca. Donkey Punch is one of the bloodiest and scariest movies that I have ever seen and its sex scenes, while not exhibiting frontal nudity, are as bacchanalian as you can get.